Ten years ago near the border between the outlands and the Kingdom of Togenshire.
In a valley of sand a distance away from the walls of a small castle, five tents were set up along a fence of a hundred horses. In the middle of the night, all outside the tented huts sat soldiers, their bodies covered in thick warm blankets and heavy plated armor as they sang across campfires and burning meat.
Inside the biggest tent of the five sat Sariel alone, his plated immaculate silver armor glistening in the moody candlelight as he went over the operation plans that were sprawled across an old wooden table.
Tusk entered through the clothed archway of the tent. He was wearing a clean black-robed shirt, with straight grey plants that tucked tight to his thick black boots. He was younger, a different person from the five years before his change. He was not covered in scars nor was his skin soaked in monster blood. He was a smoother, more vibrant Tusk, with a brighter stare lighting up from behind his glistening red eyes.
He looked at Sariel and asked, "why did you call me here? To go over the invasion of the castle?"
Sariel sat up with a jocular smile, "that plan's been scrapped. We don't have the forces to invade the castle without losing more than half of our troops."
Tusk sat down on a small stool and leaned over on his leg, "then let me guess, that's where I come in?"
Sariel turned around, grabbed a small map, and tossed it to Tusk.
"Yes. I want you to sneak into the castle on your own and take out General Magnom Calisto."
Tusk quickly looked over the map and the layout of the Castle of Togenshire.
"You want me to kill the big shot Magnom Calisto? On my own? I could do it, but these things never end easy."
"Yes yes, I know. You always get caught, and Stofentall always puts the blame on me. It happens every time, but this time it'll be different."
Sariel looked to the cloth flap door and waved his hand for someone to enter.
A sixteen-year-old girl in a brown leathered vest and light-colored baggy pants entered, her dirty blonde hair and hazel brown eyes stared across the tent. She looked at Tusk, Sariel, the maps and supplies strung across boxes and sand. She smiled at Sariel as he smirked at Tusk.
"Meet Caroline. She's the sixth princess from the Kingdom of Limstine."
Tusk suddenly sat up confused.
"Wait... She's a princess of the Kingdom we're trying to invade?" he asked with a bewildering turn of his head.
Sariel pointed to Caroline, "you care to explain?"
"Yes sir, I am Caroline Limstine, I'm an archer trained by the best Royal Archers in all the land. I am also the sixth princess of my father, King Limstine."
Tusk looked at this thin slender girl three years younger than him.
"You want me to work with a little girl?" he asked.
Caroline turned fierce, "I am not a little girl, I could wipe your ass easily in any form of swordsmanship."
Sariel stood up and held out his hand to Tusk, "she will be working as a backup for you, to make sure you don't get caught again."
"I don't need help from her," said Tusk crossing his arms.
Sariel walked around the table and leaned up against its creaking wooden frame, "you said so yourself. You get caught. She will be your eyes in the sky as you are the beast below. Think of yourself as a shadow to her light."
"No think of me like a hawk. As you duck around fighting below I'll be preying down on any enemy you can't reach above," added Caroline.
Tusk sat still, his arms folded as Sariel pushed up from the table and walked up to him.
"Listen, Tusk, I'm starting a new mercenary group... I want to leave the Stofentall army and join me."
"You want to create your own mercenary group? And do what? Same old same old? Killing God? Finding all the Swords of Feun?" asked Tusk as he got up from the stool and walked past Caroline to the archway leading out of the tent.
"I want you to join me Tusk. I want to use our swords for a cause, not to fight in an endless war."
Tusk turned halfway out the door.
"Then what'll you call your mercenary group?" he asked.
"The path further than the deserts of time. A place known to harbor infinite water. A vast pool of life bringers. And we will be its finders... We'll be called the Shorebringers!"
Tusk turned away, his fast half cast in the shadows as Caroline and Sariel stared at him.
"Shorebringers huh? It's a good name..."
---
On a hill a distance away from both the Stofentall invaders camp and the Castle of Togenshire, Tusk and Caroline sat waiting as the crescent moon reached its peak in the night sky.
Caroline had a bow large, metallic, and black. It stood double her size and the bow string stretched triple her length. Tusk had no idea how she could use such a ginormous bow, but he didn't care. His job was to enter kill and leave, without being noticed.
"Tusk, Sariel said you had a special sword. Is it actually a Sword of Feun?" asked Caroline as she leaned back sharpening her arrows to her licked perfection.
Tusk pulled out his sword and pulled it from its scratched black sheath.
"It's the Sword of Thunder. You wanna take a good look?"
He tossed the sword across the sand to Caroline. She jumped back as the sword pierced deep into the sand.
"Damn that's sharp."
"It doesn't scratch nor does it chip. It's impervious to all damage. A weapon of pure destruction."
Caroline pulled the sword from the sand and looked at its black and gold blade. She looked at its glistening reflection as the moonlight shined in its deathly gaze.
"It's scary," she said sliding the sword back over to Tusk.
He picked it up and stuck it back into the sand.
"Sariel's is scarier. A weapon with one touch to steal the soul. He's my only friend but I fear that behind his dream-filled eyes lies a tortured soul."
"You're afraid he's going to steal your soul?" asked Caroline.
Tusk looked down in fear, "always."